PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3106 in the first paragraph in the first line (page 1, line 4 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "The" and inserting the following: 'Except as provided in subsection 3, the'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3106 in subsection 1 in paragraph A in the first line (page 1, line 9 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "interruptions to service" and inserting the following: 'service interruptions'
Amend the bill in section 1 in §3106 by striking out all of subsection 2 (page 1, lines 12 to 20 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
 
‘2.  Service standards; corrective actions.     The commission shall adopt rules that set standards for transmission and distribution utilities regarding the frequency and duration of service interruptions. The rules must establish performance targets and specify guidelines for the commission to require a transmission and distribution utility to take corrective actions if performance targets are not met.
 
3.  Exception; small utilities.    Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the commission may exempt small transmission and distribution utilities from any rule, or portion of a rule, required by this section if the commission determines that the rule would impose unreasonable requirements on the utility due to the small size of the utility. For the purposes of this subsection, "small transmission and distribution utility" means a transmission and distribution utility serving 50,000 or fewer retail customers.’
 
SUMMARY
The amendment changes the provision in the bill regarding the metrics for evaluating service interruptions for transmission and distribution utilities and the threshold for requiring corrective action. Rather than calculating a statewide average service interruption rate and establishing the threshold for corrective action at 50% above that statewide average, as in the bill, the amendment requires the Public Utilities Commission by rule to set standards regarding the frequency and duration of service interruptions, establish performance targets and specify guidelines for requiring corrective action by a utility. The amendment authorizes the commission to exempt transmission and distribution utilities serving 50,000 or fewer customers from rules regarding service interruption reporting and standards.